Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Dismiss the court! Dismiss the court!"

Inside the Weisheng Imperial Palace, Tian Hu's furious roars still echoed.

Just now at the court meeting, Tian Hu once again tentatively suggested asking the Liao Kingdom for help, which once again aroused opposition from the entire court!

Some of the more outspoken military officers were practically ready to point their fingers at Tian Hu and hurl insults at him.

Why didn't Tian Hu suppress these military generals?

Suppression? Suppression my ass!

The battle with the Western Army was so fierce that Tian Hu was now short of men. If he were to suppress them all, then the Great Jin would truly be left without anyone.

Moreover, you can't say that those opponents are simply criticizing Tian Hu; their words are quite nice, actually.

"Your Majesty! We cannot surrender to Liao! One hundred thousand warriors of our Great Jin are fighting on the front lines, and we too are willing to fight to the death. Why does Your Majesty surrender first?!"

"Your Majesty, you were once incredibly strong, you once drew your sword and your might shook Hebei! Why do you insist on acknowledging the Liao Kingdom as your master today?!"

"Your Majesty! Shi Jingtang's actions back then made him the target of countless curses, and his ancestral graves were almost desecrated. Your Majesty must not follow his example!"

Although there were people in the court like Fan Quan who agreed to ally with the Liao Kingdom, they were few in number and did not hold high positions, so they did not have much influence and could not affect the overall situation.

Sure enough, Minister Zheng Zhirui directly pointed at Fan Quan and started cursing him, calling him a scumbag of the Han people. Fan Quan was utterly humiliated but had no way to retaliate.

It should be noted that although Zheng Zhirui was a civil official, he was also a skilled military strategist, far superior to Fan Quan!

Seeing that the situation in the court was getting out of control and there was even a tendency for a fight to break out on the spot, Tian Hu could only roar and signal the court to adjourn.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm down, please calm down!"

The eunuch followed Tian Hu closely, afraid that he would explode with anger.

"How can I calm down! A bunch of people don't understand my good intentions and argue with me every day! I wish I could kill them all!"

Tian Hu cursed and swore.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. They are just short-sighted. Think about it, they were just a bunch of bandits. What kind of wisdom could they possibly have?"

"Bandits? So what if I'm a bandit? I was a bandit myself!"

Tian Hu glared at the eunuch. "Can't you speak properly? If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"

"Oh, Your Majesty, you are a born king, but you are forced to become a bandit temporarily. How can they compare to you? They are just a bunch of peasants."

The eunuch quickly made amends.

"Hmph, you do have good taste. By the way, go and call Li Tianxi, Zheng Zhirui, and that other guy? Oh right, Xie Ning, that's him. Bring all three of them over to me. They're all in the side hall."

"Yes!"

……

A moment later, in the side hall.

"Two ministers."

Xie Ning bowed to the two ministers.

"Thank you, Governor Xie. Congratulations on your promotion."

Li Tianxi had a good impression of Xie Ning.

"Thank you for the compliment, Minister Li."

Xie Ning's attitude remained the same, extremely respectful.

"Governor Xie, we know your abilities are indeed excellent. I have no objection to promoting you to governor."

"However, when Your Majesty was speaking just now, I noticed that you didn't say a word. Why is that?"

Zheng Zhirui looked at Xie Ning and asked.

"Minister Zheng is joking. Xie Ning is not very talented. There are many people in the Great Jin Kingdom who are more capable than me. I was able to sit in the position of governor entirely because of His Majesty's favor."

"Therefore, I support Your Majesty's idea, and even if I disagree, I will not point it out in court."

Xie Ning cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"I didn't realize you were so shrewd at such a young age. Isn't this just a waste of your position? His Majesty appointed you as governor and gave you power, yet you're squandering it like this?"

Zheng Zhirui was dissatisfied with Xie Ning's actions.

This is just taking money and not doing any work!

"Your Excellency is mistaken. Although Xie Ning will not oppose Your Majesty to your face, if Your Majesty does something wrong, Xie Ning will point it out, but only in private."

Xie Ning answered very politely.

"So, you knew long ago that you would be summoned by the King today?"

Zheng Zhirui wasn't stupid; he understood what Xie Ning meant.

"It wasn't very early, it was just yesterday."

"Hmph, no wonder."

Zheng Zhirui understood. It wasn't that this guy didn't want to say anything earlier, but rather that he knew he could meet with Tian Hu and have a face-to-face talk today.

The three waited for a short while before Tian Hu arrived.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

The three men clasped their hands in greeting, but Tian Hu waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for such formalities, and then got straight to the point.

"Tianxi, Zhirui, how could you contradict me like that in the main hall just now?"

Xie Ning noticed that when facing Li Tianxi and Zheng Zhirui, Tian Hu no longer referred to himself as "this king," but instead called himself "I."

That's normal. Back when Tian Hu was just an ordinary local strongman, the three of them already knew each other. Among acquaintances, there's naturally no need to be so formal.

“Your Majesty, we wouldn’t object so much to anything else, but we really cannot accept cooperating with the Liao Kingdom.”

Li Tianxi was most familiar with Tian Hu. At the very beginning of the uprising, besides Wu Li and Fang Xuedu, Li Tianxi was the only other person under Tian Hu.

"Tianxi, you've seen how formidable the Zhe family army is. The third brother and Dong Ping were completely overwhelmed by them!"

"Tell me, if we don't invite the Liao people, who among us can stand against them? Or should we go and invite those people from Western Xia?"

Tian Hu looked at his old brother with an expression that said, "Why don't you understand me?"

"If Your Majesty trusts me, then let me lead the troops! I will bring 20,000 men. I may not be able to take them all, but I am confident that I can hold off the Zhe family army!"

To everyone's surprise, after listening to this, Li Tianxi immediately volunteered for the battle, completely failing to understand Tian Hu's "good intentions".

"No, this isn't about whether we volunteer or not, you know what I mean?"

"We'll ask the Liao people for help to defeat the Zhao Song dynasty, and then we'll still be the Great Jin dynasty, still independent. Do you understand?"

Tian Hu explained.

"Your Majesty, are you treating me like a three-year-old child?"

Li Tianxi gave a bitter smile.

"How is that possible? If we win by relying on the Liao people, we'll be at their mercy for the rest of our lives!"

"To betray one's country for personal gain is something that will be condemned behind one's back, Your Majesty, you mustn't do it!"

Zheng Zhirui was even more direct, practically pointing his finger at Tian Hu and accusing him of treason.

"You, you all! You all!"

Tian Hu was furious. How come none of you understood what I said? Where did I say anything about betraying the country for personal gain?

This is a roundabout way to achieve our goal! A roundabout way to achieve our goal! How come none of you understand?

"Your Majesty, Ministers, in fact, everyone's thoughts are for the good of the Great Jin Kingdom. Moreover, Your Majesty has also said that we only need assistance in seeking help."

At this moment, Xie Ning stepped forward and began to smooth things over.

"Yes! Xie Qing is great, he knew exactly what I wanted right away."

Tian Hu was overjoyed; finally, one of his ministers understood his meaning!

I just need some help!

"However, Your Majesty, I believe that since it is to assist in seeking aid, we only need to use what is available, and we do not necessarily need to find the Liao people."

"We have other brothers in the bandit world of the Song Dynasty, and they are quite good at fighting. Why don't we ask Liangshan for help?"

……

"Ah!"

At this moment, Ren Yuan, who was far away at sea, sneezed violently!

P.S.: If we don't mention Ren Yuanyi, have we all forgotten that he's the main character? Hahaha